claims obamacare subsidies should only flow to residents who live in a state that decided to run its own insurance market. briann, you are last -- phones.in open caller: hi, i wanted to comment on the ukraine. i was sitting here and listening to you and as the ukraine athletes started withdrawing from olympic competitions, i have to tell you that i think it is so sad that athletes around the world are doing this. the olympics were put in place as a means to global french. countries that normally would not come together under peaceful circumstances, and i am so sad

that political games have gotten in the way, and they are affecting how these kids are getting to the olympics. how many times will people get to the olympics in their lifetime, really? it is really sad. when i was growing up, the olympics were not a political statement, you know? i mean, they were friendship between global countries. host: thank you for all of your calls. we'll be back for your comments tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. enjoy the rest of your thursday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪

violent crashes have erupted again in the ukrainian capital of kiev shortly after a truce was appeared to have been reached last night. more than 20 people have been killed today, to bring the death toll to over 60 over the last several days. the head of the security administration resigned, saying we must the guided only by the interest of the people. this most recent update now, from the associated press, the ukraine interior minister says 67 police have been captured by protesters. we expect to hear more from the situation in the ukraine and

there will be a press briefing from the white house with josh earnest. we are also asking you on our facebook page to weigh in on what you think the u.s. role should be in the conflict with the majority of you saying the united states should say out. you can share your thoughts, join in on the conversation at facebook.com/c-span. looking at our scheduled in primetime tonight, starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, the u.s. editor in chief for "the guardian" newspaper talks about how they broke the story about former nsa contractor edward snowden. she is part of a panel organized

as part of a year-long project entitled "journalism after snowden." 8:00 p.m. eastern. tonight, we will talk with two u.s. senators. senator heidi hyde can talks about how her name went from mary margaret to heidi. >> i grew up in a small catholic community, and when i was growing up, the two classes, whether it was first and second or third and forth, they were into classrooms, and there was a small group of girls. there was a lot of marys. there was mary beth, mary jo, mary catherine. my parents never called me mary. my name was cathy. i best friends name was cathy. she decided in the third grade that she would rename me.

she was a voracious reader and had already read hundreds of books by the time she was in the "heidi" was one of her favorite books. she gave me the name and it sucked. .> -- stock -- stuck his namehune on how was changed. >> my grandparents came from norway and they did not know english, but they were asked by immigration officials to change their name because they thought it would be too difficult for people to spell and pronounce. jelsvlk, so when they got to ellis island, they asked them to change the name the name of the farm near where they lived, farm.was thune

they had a sponsor in south dakota, and they came out to work on the railroads. profile those quote tonight starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. president obama was in mexico yesterday for a summit with north american counterparts, accident president enrique pena presidentmexican canadianena nieto, and prime minister stephen harper. they addressed current violence in the ukraine. the leaders held a news conference last night. this is just under one hour.

[speaking spanish] >> ladies and gentlemen, now with us, the president of the united mexican states, mr. enrique pena nieto, the president of the united states of america, his excellency enrique pena nieto -- his excellency mr. barack obama, and the prime minister of canada, his excellency mr. stephen harper. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, good evening. your excellency, president of the united states of america, barack obama, prime minister of canada, stephen harper, once again -- i would like to welcome

you to our country. it is a great honor to have hosted you for the north american leaders summit here in the state of mexico, toluca in the capital city. a state i had the great honor of being a governor of before i took office with the greatest honor in the world of politics, that is to lead the course of my country. that is why i am very glad we have had the opportunity of having this meeting. i would like to congratulate myself for creating a space where we have had dialogues, where we have outreach to our countries and where we have strengthened our friendships. the one space where we have met, it is very different. from what the teams of men and women representing mexico in

sochi are having in russia. they are in very cold weather and fighting hard to win a medal. i would like to present to you a summary -- i would like to summarize for the media and for the delegation the scope of our meeting. i would like to share with you -- we have two highlights in our meeting. a bilateral with president barack obama and his delegation and their counterparts from mexico, to address the following. i would like to share this with you. first of all, we assess the

breakthroughs related to the agreements made during president obama's past visit in may to our country. now, i must note that mexico runs top of the list of the most visited countries by president obama. we were able to make progress on the agreements. how much we have advanced the exchange between high-level officials, to precisely boost the trade and commercial relationship that mexico and the u.s. have. we have also analyzed the possibility of setting forward mechanisms to build and fund strategic projects. we have agreed to work on a proposal that would help us find different mechanisms to fund

projects so that we can give our infrastructure new life, and to have safer commercial transactions between our countries. we talked about education and we have to have more academic exchanges. so that more mexican students can study in the united states and reciprocally, students from the united states can come to mexico to study. the number of students so far is somehow low considering a potential that we have. out of the 14,000 students, we have set a goal. that is to increase year by year this figure, and reach 100,000 students a year that visit the

united states and 50,000 students from the u.s. coming to mexico. we have revised our security agenda and we have agreed to maintain a strategic dialogue to coordinate efforts so we can face a common issue, security in both of our countries and specifically, security at the border. on the other hand, i would like to refer to the outcome of the north american leaders' summit. i would like to share with you the highlights in terms of the agreements reached. we have worked on four main topics. the first one is to foster shared and inclusive prosperity. we have agreed to work on a plan to boost competitiveness.

we also have agreed to work on a north america transport plan. that would give us better infrastructure in our three countries to make the commerce that happens between our countries thrived. we also agreed to standardize and expedite all the procedures that take place at our customs house. we have also agreed to enable the movement of individuals. by this, trusted travelers progress as we have a program of this nature with a purpose in mind that all the travelers that are part of the trusted travelers in our countries, is considered a vetted traveler in north america.

additionally, in terms of the topics we addressed, i must insist in terms of our national agenda with the united states, we have added canada to work on a program to train professionals by increasing our academic exchanges and ensuring mobility of students between our three countries. we have also agreed to foster sustainable development, working towards the mitigation of the effects of climate change. in the area of sustainability, we have also agreed to work on

the preservation of the monarch butterfly. this is a landmark species in north america. this is a species that we have agreed to work a task force to preserve the monarch butterfly. then, another topic is citizen security and regional topics. we have agreed to give privilege to the exchange of information and we have also privilege to coordinate efforts between law enforcement authorities. we will reinforce the measures aimed to fight money laundering and illicit financial flows area for that purpose, we need to integrate our financial systems further. we have also restated our commitment to support and cooperate with the central america as well as the caribbean

because they are partners in this hemisphere. we have committed to foster development, economic growth and citizen security as well. basically, i have summarized the commitments made during this summit. we have committed, the three of us, to give follow-up to all the agreements made. we, besides making agreements, we have committed to give follow-up to each one of these agreements and we have committed to make them happen. finally, i would like to share with you that in order to reach our goal, we need to identify that north america is quite

valuable. the free trade agreement executed 20 years ago and the intense dialogue that we have between our three countries in the north american region is very valuable, and every exchange is based on trust. we share a very good relationship. all of us will lead our countries. this north american leaders summit has been a very good opportunity to specify what our commitments will be and what are the tasks for the future. it has also served as a space to restate our friendship, good relationship that we have, and the respect that we pay to each other. we have committed to work hard to make significant

contribution, to make north america a more competitive region. i would dare to say the most competitive region in the world. this is a region with a true calling for prosperity. we will work to provide better well-being to the citizens of our country. we have made great strides. we create plenty of jobs due to the economic relationship we have managed to achieve. we want more development. we are aware of the potential that we find in north america. i make a pledge so that the seventh summit of leaders of north america serves its purpose. once again, we welcome -- i would like to say that i hope you have had a very doesn't stay

stay -- pleasant stat in toluca. i hope this visit has been very fruitful. i hope we are able to build an even stronger relationship. thank you. [applause] >> buenos noches. to the people of toluca and the people of mexico, thank you so much for your instrument rate -- extraordinary hospitality. thank you for welcoming us to your hometown and home state, which like the beautiful surroundings tonight, reflect mexico's proud history as well as the economic dynamism of today's mexico. i want to thank president's pena nieto and prime minister harper. for the united states, canada and mexico, two of our largest

trading partners support millions of american jobs. thanks in part to our efforts to boost american exports to canada and mexico, they are continuing to grow faster than exports to the rest of the world. our countries have strengths that give north america a tremendous competitive advantage. the skills of our workers, manufacturing is growing, and new sources of energy. we have to take advantage of these competitive advantages and we need to do it together. all of this positions us to be a powerhouse of the global economy. that is why we are here, to make sure that we are doing everything we can to the more competitive and create more jobs. in canada, and mexico and in the united states. we are focused on making it easier to trade. earlier today i signed a new

executive order to make it easier for companies that want to export and import. instead of dealing with dozens of different federal agencies, we are going to create a one-stop shop. online, so companies can submit all their information in one place and save themselves time and money. we are going to keep investing in infrastructure like roads, bridges, border crossings, so our goods are getting to market faster. we have agreed to keep working to make it easier for our business people and tourists to trade and travel. we are going to step up our efforts to streamline and a limited regulations, the red tape that can sometimes stifle trade and job creation. we have agreed to keep working to complete negotiations on the partnership including strong protections for our workers and the environment so that we can compete in the fast-growing market of the asia-pacific. because it will prove the u.s. economy and make the united states more attractive to investors. and because we have to do right i our families and our values.

immigration reform remains one of my highest priorities. i am also very pleased that we have agreed to keep expanding educational partnerships. our young people will develop the skills they need to succeed in the global economy. this builds on my initiative that we call 100,000 strong in the americas. we want more students from the united states studying throughout the hemisphere. we one more students from places like canada and mexico studying in the united states. that will serve them and serve our country as well for decades to come. we continue to deepen our clean energy partnerships with creech -- which create jobs and battle climate change. the united states will develop new fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks, standards that reduce carbon pollution. all three of our nations have agreed to work together to meet high fuel standards for these heavy-duty trucks.

more broadly, we agreed to join with our central american and caribbean partners on a regional energy strategy that builds on the command and -- the commitment i made in central america last year. on a global level, we agree to keep standing together as we push forth to phase down the production and consumption of dangerous hydrofluorocarbons. number 3, we know that realizing our full potential as individual countries and as a region means confronting the criminal traffickers who unleash so much violence on our citizens. here in mexico, the security forces make enormous sacrifices in that fight, and our three nations are united against this threat. in the united states, we continue to be committed to reduce the demand for illegal

drugs and we will continue our unprecedented efforts to combat the southbound flow of illegal guns and cash. and finally, given our shared commitment to democratic values, i want to take this opportunity to address the situation in venezuela and ukraine and the unacceptable violence in those two countries which the united states strongly condemns. in venezuela, rather than distract from failings, the by making up acquisitions -- accusations against the united states. along with the organization of american states, we call on the venezuelan government to release protesters that are detainment and engage in real dialogue. all parties have an obligation to work together to restrain violence and restore calm. with regard to ukraine, along

with our european partners, we will continue to engage all sides. we continue to stress to president yanukovych and the ukrainian government that they have a primary responsibility to protect the kind of terrible violence we have seen, to withdraw a riot police, to work with the opposition, to restore security and human dignity and move the country forward. this includes progress toward a multiparty government that can work with the international community on a support package and adopt reforms necessary for free and fair elections next year. ukrainians are a proud and resilient people who overcome extraordinary challenges. that is a pride and strength i hope they draw on now. i urge the military and ukraine to show restraint and let civilians pursue the dialogue necessary for progress. we have seen reports of a truce between the government and the opposition. if the truce is implemented, it could provide states with a way

to resolve their disagreements peacefully. we will continue to do whatever we can to support ukrainians as they seek a peaceful solution in response to the aspirations of the ukrainian people for a strong, unified democracy. i want to thank enrique and the people of mexico for their wonderful hospitality. if we stay focused on our shared vision, then progress in each of our countries will me more more -- will mean more prosperity and opportunity for everyone. thank you very much. [applause] closed --spanish

[speaking spanish] >> allow me to start out by thanking president pena nieto for his generous hospitality. we have had a wonderful stay in this wonderful country in mexico. we are eager to come back soon. today i had fruitful meetings and dialogues with my commercial partners from mexico. in regard to services, information and also shared and fundamental values, and of course our democratic and peaceful world, today we celebrate the 20th anniversary of nafta. as time can tell us, this treaty was successful and it started guaranteeing prosperity from one extreme to the other of the hemisphere. the volume of exchanges is fourfold now. over $30 billion. we have now seen exponential growth and can hope for exponential growth in years to come. we are in agreement to say that

we can still grow the success of nafta to implement new ways. for instance, in regard to the transpacific alliance. peace negotiations should be for the best. we need to create employment. this is the key to revitalize the economy and foster prosperity, not only for the canadian populations but for the -- our populations at large. our government will keep working in expanding the free trade and commerce with partners in north america as well as the asia-pacific region and worldwide. since we want to have access on the other side of the atlantic, since we have the free exchange agreement with europe.

today, president obama, president pena nieto and myself have dealt it to -- have delved into many topics. especially the world economy at a local regional level and competitiveness, north american competitiveness. we are truly enthusiastic with this idea of collaborating together. we shall keep on working together to make and to take a profit of all the occasions for the well-being of our populations. we will host the forthcoming of the summit in canada. i would like to add a word in regard to the situation in ukraine. there has been a truce, but it is essential that we take

action. at the end of the day, the ukrainian government has to be held responsible for settling this situation. the ukrainian government took actions, actions that were not only unpopular but actions that put at risk nature and the aspirations of ukraine becoming an independent nation. >> we have had a wonderful time here in beautiful mexico and i look forward to returning again soon. today we had productive meetings with canada's closest friends and trading partners, partners with whom we share goods,

services and information and also fundamental values and a vision for a democratic and peaceful world. this year, we mark the 20th anniversary of the north american free trade agreement. as only time can reveal, the agreement has been an overwhelmingly successful and is responsible for creating prosperity from the bottom to the top of the continent. there has been a fourfold growth in bilateral trade over the last 20 years that now exceeds $1 trillion. it is estimated that the marketplace will continue to expand exponentially in the decades to come. we agree that there is enormous potential to build on the success of nafta a new ways. most notably, through the transpacific partnership. we are focused on bringing those negotiations to a successful conclusion. developing trade is one of the keys to job creation. it is the key to economic

vitality and it is the key to long-term prosperity, not just for the canadian people, but for all of our people. that is why our government will continue to work to expand trade with our partners in north america, the asia-pacific region, and around the world. just as we did last year when we expanded our access across the atlantic through the conclusion of the canada-european union comprehensive economic trade agreement. in our meetings today, residents pena nieto, obama and i discussed a range of topics already discussed by my colleagues including the state of the global economy, international security and north american competitiveness. we share a genuine enthusiasm for closer collaboration. the presidents's and i will continue to work together to address the challenges of the 21st century. i do look forward to hosting the next north american leaders summit in canada.

and i look forward to hosting the next american leaders summit in canada and would like to conclude with a word on the situation in ukraine. we're encouraged to hear the news of a truce. while this is good news, this kind of news, these kinds of words are only meaningful if they are put into action and ultimately, it is the regime that is responsible for resolving the situation. it is the regime that created the situation, not by taking decisions that were merely unpopular, but by undertaking decisions that went against the very nature and aspirations of ukraine as independent state. for that reason, we hold the government responsible and urge them to take all of the steps necessary to resolve the situation and to put ukraine back on the democratic and euro

atlantic path that the ukrainian people desire. [applause] >> another round of questions, jason mcdonald will introduce the canadian journalists asking the questions. >> omar from ctv news. mr. president, good evening to you. canada offered to work with the united states and joint rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector. you have said the keystone xl pipeline won't be approved if it's significantly worsens climate change. the state department reported keystone will not have a significant effect on climate change. so my question to you is what more needs to be done on both sides of the border for this project to go ahead?

prime minister, i would love for you to weigh in on this as well. >> i stated previously, there is a process that has been gone through, and i know it's been extensive and at times i'm sure steven feels a little too laborious but these are how we make these decisions about something that could potentially have significant impact on america's national economy and our national interest. the state department has gone through its review. there's a comment period in which other agencies weigh in. that will be evaluated by secretary of state kerry and we will make a decision at that point. in the meantime, steven and i during a break after lunch discussed working together around dealing with greenhouse gas emissions. this is something that we have to deal with. i said previously how keystone impacted greenhouse gas emissions would effect our decision.

but frankly, it doesn't affect all of our decisions at this stage because the science is irrefutable. we're already seeing severe weather patterns increase. it has consequences for our businesses, for our jobs, for our families, for safety and security. it has the potential of displacing people in ways that we cannot currently fully anticipate. and we will be extraordinarily costly. i welcome the work we can do together with canada. one of the wonderful things about north america is we had this amazing bounty of traditional fossil fuels and we also have extraordinary businesses that are able to extract them in various ways. and that's something that we should welcome because it helps to promote economic growth. but we only have one planet. so i believe that ultimately we can both promote economic development and growth, recognizing that we're not going to immediately transition off of

fossil fuels but that we do have to point to the future and show leadership so that other countries who will be the main emitters fairly soon, china, india, other emerging markets, so that they can look at what we're doing and we have leverage over them in terms of them improving their practices as well. this will be a joint effort. i'm very excited to work with steven around those issues and keystone will proceed along the path it's been set forth on. >> let me just say a couple of things. first of all, obviously, president obama and i had an exchange on this. my views to favor the project are very well known. his views on the process are also equally well known and we

had that discussion and will continue on that discussion. i would say two things about the process. first, on the issue of climate change, which is a shared concern. can the united states have a similar target at the at the international level? we already cooperate in several sectors in terms of emission reductions. but in terms of climate change i think the state department report already was definitive on that particular issue. the other thing i just want to draw attention to just because i think it's useful to point out the benefits to canada is the reform that we have done in environmental review and assessment of projects in canada. as you know, a couple years ago we moved to reform our system so we have a single review wherever possible, single review, multidimensional review, that happens over a fixed time line. i think that is a process that's

tremendously useful in giving investors greater certainty in terms of kind of plans they may have in the canadian economy. translator: and now i shall repeat my comments in french. we, president obama have put the cornerstone and i can only echo on the american process president obama already proposed on. i would like to comment in regard to process n regard to climate change, we do share these concerns not only the united states but worldwide. we are already collaborating in many sectors to abate the green gas effect emissions and at the

same time we have -- we understand that the state department conclusions are quite correct that we wish to forward investments throughout another america so we have established a review of systems for our period in determined and precise time line and these get much better results for our investors. >> next question from the traveling u.s. press goes to jim kunin of the associated press. >> prime minister harper, mr.

president, i would like to ask you about trade. do you worry that longstanding opposition to trade deals in the from the president's party and some republicans pose a threat to the transpacific partnership and in your minds, is it essential congress approve it or at least give the president fast track authority this year or can it wait until after the u.s. elections in november? mr. president, if you would like to chime in on that as well. you mentioned parochial interest today. i would be interested in knowing how you plan to bring your democrats along. but i had a question -- >> how many questions you have, jim? >> just one, sir. >> you know i have to answer that one too, right. that was a slick move.

>> the common denominator in the strife in ukraine and syria is the support that those two governments get from russia. i'm wondering, sir, if you believe that president putin bears some responsibility for the intransigents of those two regimes and to some degree has this gone beyond just those two countries and has it become a tug of war between two world powers? >> let me answer this briefly on the trade issue. it's not accurate to say my party opposes this trade. there are elements in my party that oppose this trade deal but elements in my party that oppose the south korea free trade agreement, colombia free trade agreement, panama free trade agreement, all of which we passed with democratic votes. so what i said to president

nieto and prime minister harper is we will get this passed if it's a good agreement. and the key at this point is to make sure our countries, which hold ourselves up as champions of free trade, result our legitimate, national interests in these negotiations so we can present a united front against a number of the others in the negotiations that don't have as much of a tradition as free trade. and that is to our advantage precisely because north america has this amazing comparative advantage and we're already relatively open markets. part of our goal here 0 to make sure the asia pacific region,

faster than any play in the world, has larger population than any place else in the world. that they have a model of trade that is free and fair and open and allows our businesses to compete and allows our workers to make goods and deliver services that those markets are purchasing. we can only do that if we raise the bar in terms of what our trade models look like. i said this to some of my own constituents opposed trade. those are who concerned about losing jobs or out-sourcing need to understand some of the old agreements put us at a disadvantage and that's exactly why we need stronger agreements that open up markets to our agriculture products, that make sure that when it comes to government procurement or sovereign funds in these other countries that they're not taking advantage of our businesses and preventing us from competing there. that's exactly why we've got to

get this done and i'm very appreciative of the shared vision and commitment that prime minister harper and president enrique pena nieto have on this issue. now, with respect for syria and ukraine. i do think it is worth noting you have one country that's been a client state of russia. and another whose government is currently been supported by russia, where the people obviously have a very different view and vision for their country. and we have now seen a great deal of turmoil there. that arose organically from within those countries. i don't think there's a competition between the united states and russia. i think this is an expression of

the hopes and aspirations of people inside of syria and people inside of the ukraine who recognize that basic freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, fair and free elections, ability to run a business without paying a bribe, not be discriminated against because of your religion or your beliefs, that those are fundamental rights. that everybody wants to enjoy. mr. putin has a view on many of those issues and don't think there's any secret on that. and our approach in the united states is not to see these as some cold war chess board in which we are in competition with russia. our goal is make sure people of ukraine are able to make decisions for themselves about their future, the people of syria are able to make decisions

without having moms going off off -- bombs going off and killing women and children or chemical weapons or towns being starved because a despite wants to cling to power. we will continue to express those national interests. there are times i hope where russia will recognize that over the long term, they should be on board with those values and interests as well. right now there are times where we had strong disagreements and when i speak to mr. putin, i'm very candid about those disagreements. even as we will continue to pursue cooperation with russia on areas where we had shared concerns. but i want to emphasize this, the situation that happened in ukraine has to do with whether or not the people of ukraine can determine their own destiny.

and you know, my government and vice president biden and i personally have expressed to president jankovic the need for him to recognize the spirit of the ukrainian people and work with that. as opposed to trying to repress it. so we will continue to stand on the side of the people. my hope is at this point that a truce may hold but steven is exactly right. ultimately the government is responsible for making sure we shift towards some sort of unity government, even if it's temporary, that allows us to move to fair and free elections so that the will of the ukrainian people can be rightly expressed without the kinds of chaos we have seen on the streets, without the bloodshed that all of us i think strongly

condemn. >> on the issue of transpacific partnership, we are wanting to see and committed to seeing a good, comprehensive, transpacific partnership trade agreement. i think it's in all of our interests for the reasons that have already been laid out. with that said the government of canada's position is always clear in these matter that's we will only come to an agreement when we are convinced the agreement has been in the best interest of canada. we will stay at the table as long as it takes to get to that particular situation. and i think we have the track record to prove it. our government, current government, canada, is trying more trade agreements than all previous canadian governments combined. what i will say is this -- i'm not going to comment on the

process in congress. what i will say is this -- the reason i said what i said about working until we get an agreement that is in the interest of canada is we will have to an agreement that can be sold to the canadian parliament and ultimately to the canadian people. and that's what we're aiming for. [speaking french] translator: i repeat in regard to the transpacific agreement, alliance, the -- and in regard to our relations with the asia pacific region, we have our own perspective and we will negotiate up to the point where we will have an agreement on the table. and we need -- we need to show that our administration has subscribed more agreements than

any other previous administrations -- administrations. so, for the canadian government, it is essential to note that we can submit these proposals to the canadian parliament. i have always stated we have been part of the negotiation rounds to eventually reach an agreement of this important opportunity that the t.p.p. offers. we can expand the potential of north america into the asia pacific region. mexico would do its best to be on the side of the solution.

overcome this agreement and eventual vote the negotiations rounds present. we hope if -- in this spirit that we reach agreement mexico has made a commitment and has shown political will to be part of the transpacific partnership. i hope that the deal happens. that is the mexican extent and we will work to the best of our ability to reach this goal. now on behalf of mexico, miguel from the mexican editorial orginization will ask a question. >> good evening, everyone. in light of the fact we celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the efforts made my mexico,

united states and canada, we have nafta for 20 years, i would like to ask the president of my country, what is the outlook of the northern part of this continental development? and what are the challenges for the development that we have hoped for, that we are expecting and i would like to ask the president of the united states of america, mr. obama, and mr. harper, prime minister of canada, what is the engagement we should expect? what is your commitment to make this region north america that we have 13 1/2 months of your administration, mr. enrique nieto and you partner, neighboring countries, what is your take on this 13 months and a half of the mexican president? thank you very much for your

reply. >> translator: i believe we have been very candid in terms of the huge strength we see in north america after 20 years of the free trade agreement. our trade has been able to thrive. we have more commercial exchanges. we have more investments in the region and to date we have integrated, that is changed, between our three countries that is that we are adding value this products that are offered in this great market. we are fully aware of the economic growth since so far we are fully aware of the creation of jobs in north america. that is why we have committed in this summit to take on action that would help us strengthen our economic ties further. to coveted to enable trade to

have better infrastructure to have safer exchanges and to make our trade be easier. these are agreement we have made today and we have also acknowledged the enormous potential and future we see on the horizon it would be based on the strength we have built upon over the last of the course of the last 20 years and let us acknowledge we are three countries that we are three democratic countries, three countries who believe in free trade and our country have found a space to create jobs and have more developments in our nations. >> as we said throughout our meetings today, america's

success, mexico's success, canadian success, are all bound together. i think if you just look at the facts mexico has made enormous strides over the last several decades and in part that is because we have seen a greater integration of mexico in the world economy. i think the united states and canada have played constructive roles in that. our ability to trade with mexico created jobs and opportunities in our country as well. so it's been a mutually beneficial partnership. based on self-interest but also, as enrique said, based on common values. and we have seen a consolidation of democracy here in mexico and i think the kinds of reforms that enrique initiated over the

last 13 months are ones that will put mexico in the stronger competitive footing in the world economy, in the years to come. i recognize they're still implementation issues that will be involved and healthy debate here in mexico. i'm confident given the talent of the mexican people, that the resources of the mexican people, given the growing capacity of mexican businesses and given the fact that we as a north america entity constitutes a huge trading block and economic powerhouse around the world, that we should anticipate mexico's growth to continue, standards of living to continue, jobs and opportunities to continue. and that's what we hope for all of our countries. i'm confident that the partnership we developed is good for the united states, creates jobs in the united states, helps businesses in the united states and if we continue to cooperate

and try to reduce some of the barriers that have been in the past slowed down our commercial exchanges as well as educational exchanges, we will be successful. >> allow me this is our perspective -- canada has seen great success but the development of mexico throughout this time period that is 20 years has been unbelievable socially, economically, politically, and mexico is becoming a world of power and we see this raising profits with

the support of president nieto. we have made comments on the challenges to meet. i think the greatest one is the need to keep on increasing the flow of goods and services and information across our borders at a time where risks and threats to security are also increased across the borders. and that will be the greatest challenge to meet. >> look, i think the national relationship as i is have said before has been tremendously successful to all of us but i think looking back 20 years, the development of mexico and all of economical, social, political over the period has been incredible. it's a process that's accelerating under president pena nieto's very bold vision for the future and mexico is increasingly becoming a global

economic player. you asked about challenges. i think the biggest single challenge is in an era where we are seeing a need to see, even greater movement of goods services, people, investments, borders, but at the same time, the risks and threats to security across those borders continues to rise. will be a challenge to grow human and trade flow while at the same time minimizing the risks. >> president needed to would you like to take the floor so you close theently meeting. >> yes, i would.

once again, i would like to congratulate myself for this event. we have built a climate based on and respect, and we have worked toward a relationship where it is very clear in terms of the responsibilities of each of the heads of state. i am certain this relationship will result in greater integration, stronger friendship, and whatever we do for the sake of north america will benefit our peoples. i would like to give further testimony to how grateful i am toward the authorities of the state, the governor of the state of mexico. i would like to thank you for enabling the summit to take place here. i would like to thank the chief justice justice of the state of .exico they provided us with their

facilities, and i would like to thank the inhabitants of the capital city of toluca for their hospitality. i thank them. all of like to thank them for the conveniences and all the preparation work and all the security operations needed for the summit. i am very grateful towards them and very grateful for the hospitality you been to the president of the united states, barack obama, and prime minister of canada, stephen harper. have aou very much, and safe trip home. thank you very much. >> president obama came back to the white house late last night. no public events scheduled for today, although he is meeting with governors this weekend for the annual governors association winter meeting. c-span will have coverage of those meetings. check our schedule online to get further details.

looking at our schedule in prime time tonight, the editor of the guardian talks about how they broke the story of edward snowden. university journalism school organized the event. it is part of a year-long project called journalism after snowden. that starts tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. with twowe will talk u.s. senators about their personal lives, careers, and some interesting facts about their names. senator heidi high camp tells us how her name went from mary catherine to heidi. >> a group in a small catholic community. classes werehe two all in the same classroom. was a same time, there small group of girls. there were a lot of mary's. there was a mary beth, a mary and, mary jo, and mary

catherine. my parents never called me merry. my name is kathy. but my best friends name was cathy, so she decided in third grade that she would rename me. so, she was a voracious reader and had already read hundreds of books i think by the time she was in third grade, and heidi was one of her favorite books. she thought it was great alliteration, she gave me the name heidi, and it was some -- and it stuck. talk withwe will senator john thune. >> my grandfather and great norway to over from ellis island. the only english words they knew where apple pie and coffee, which they learned on the way over. in norway was

gjslvik. they were asked to change their name. they settled on the soon farm. they got through ellis island and had a sponsor and came to work on the railroads. tonight starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. here is the latest from the associated press on the unrest in the ukraine. a top medic for the protesters says at least 70 activist's were killed in kiev on thursday. this is on top of reports that there were 67 police captured by protesters in kiev. video footage showed protesters leading police around a sprawling protest camp in central kiev. one of the opposition lawmakers says the police are being held

in city hall, which is occupied by protesters. the president nor the opposition leaders he met with are in control of the chaos engulfing ukraine. theill hear the latest from white house on the ukrainian situation during today's press briefing set for 1:00 p.m. eastern, and we will have live coverage here on c-span. we are also asking for your on the rolements the u.s. should play in the conflict. the majority of you say the u.s. should stay out. earlier this morning on washington journal, we spoke with a former u.s. ambassador to ukraine about the events that led to the protest, the role of

russian president vladimir putin, and the role the u.s. should play in helping to resolve the conflict. this is about an hour. >> to better help us understand what is happening in the ukraine, we are joined at the table by john herbst. he was the former ambassador to the ukraine. thank you for joining us this morning. how do we get to where we are now? guest: there is great dissatisfaction, not just among people in the center and west of the country, but even in the east with his role. corruption, which is a major problem in the ukraine, has become worse. under his stewardship. you had his rejection of the trade deal and tens of thousands of protesters came out to protest. he made the mistake of cracking down.

violently. ukraine is not russia. it is not china. the crackdowns are not well received in the public. we had tens of thousands of demonstrators demonstrating on one day. after the crackdown, we have hundreds of thousands in the streets. the numbers have ebbed and flowed ever since. the protesters are insisting that he give up our. -- power. they may say they want a ukraine that has democratic freedoms. those freedoms were developing under his predecessor. host: who are the protesters? guest: they appeared spontaneously. the protesters that occurred -- the protests that occurred in 2004 were planned by the opposition parties. these have more in common with

arab spring protests. these occurred spontaneously after he broke the trade agreement with the eu. people came out in the streets addressing their frustration. you have opposition leaders in the ukraine. they only have some influence with the protesters. they do not control them. protesters are bound and determined to bring concessions out of mr. yana kovacic. -- yanukovich. host: is there more than one group? guest: there are multiple groups. it is less groups than people. there are hundreds of thousands of people. there are some groups within them, but i would not put stock among the demonstrators. it is not as if there is a single group that speaks for

more than a few hundred people in the streets. host: what you make of the violence? we are showing our viewers right now video from two days ago. guest: ukraine in the post soviet. -- post-soviet time they do not , have a traditional violence. this is a turbulent period. it reflects the heavy hand of viktor yanukovych. he used force to try to clear the streets. he does not seem to have the ability to use the major mama -- amount of force necessary to clear the streets. the armed forces from his perspective are not reliable and he cannot count on them to turn arms against fellow citizens. the police, the main apparatus for exercising control, also not reliable. he has had to use the special

police unit. even they are not completely reliable. there are people that do not like the idea of firing on their fellow citizens. this may explain why the standoff has lasted so long. host: there was a reference in the paper two thugs. -- to thugs. guest: they are thugs who are hired to do the dirty work so the regime can claim they have nothing to do with the dirty work. they are out in the streets. there may be a few hundred of them. these are simply people who they hire, where is the people in the streets are committed to a new and better ukraine. that is the real story. this crisis has lasted for three months, despite the fact that it is in wintertime.

temperatures drop well below zero. it has lasted this long because there are only two possible ways to resolve it. either viktor yanukovych has to use mass repression, or he has to offer a serious concession. he is not ready to do that. he has offered a lot of half measures. he fired the prime minister, offered it to --. the reason he did not take it is because under the ukrainian constitution, viktor yanukovych can give him that job and fire him tomorrow. he has no real authority if they do yana kovacic does not want him to have that -- if viktor yanukovych does not want him to have that authority. host: this is a statement put out on the official website of the ukrainian president. this is from earlier today. radical protesters lots and

ascension of -- launch an offensive on the lawn forced officials using firearms during the declared truce. all attempts of the government to establish dialogue and revolve -- resolve the conflict work ignored. these firearms including sniper rifles, they shoot to kill. law enforcement officials are not armed and used special means. all measures to stop bloodshed and confrontation are being taken. guest: that is excellent propaganda in order to justify a crackdown if they try another one. even that statement is not the most efficient propaganda. look at the numbers that talk about.

dozens or scores of fatalities and injured. we know that there are many thousands of injuries among the protesters. the statement is that the police are not using firearms and they are not using librarian action. that is false. any examination of the injury sustained by thousands of protesters proves that is false. host: here's a tweet from an abc reporter. he tweeted out diapers targeting news crews filming from windows, including abc's camera. guest: that doesn't surprise me. they don't want an accurate portrayal of the story. one of the things viktor yanukovych did was shut down channel 5. it is owned by a member of the opposition. it was important during the orange revolution, conveying news about what is happening. it was important in this crisis,

conveying real news. targeting western journalists are just a step up from what he is doing by targeting -- by shutting down channel 5. he can solve this crisis tomorrow by offering a real concession. he has not been willing to do it. for him, maintaining power is important. host: foreign ministers of european countries may have wrapped up their meetings with the president today. the eu called an emergency meeting to vote on sanctions later today. what do you make of this effort? guest: that is very important.

the people doing the nasty things in the ukraine government are not driven by a strong ideal or ideology. they are driven by a love of power and the ability to become rich by being powerful. if the eu were to sanction individual ukrainian officials responsible for the violence, refusing visas to come to europe, take action against their financial assets in europe, this would weekend the -- weaken the yanukovych regime. if a person's riches are in danger by carrying out these policies, they will stop doing it. host: should the u.s. do the same? guest: we issued a visa sanctions on about 20 or so ukrainian officials. i hope we would move towards some financial sanctions. our impact will be less than the eu's, because it is where -- because the eu is where they

park their money, much less than the united states. i think we have done a good job so far. we have spoken out in support of democratic processes in the ukraine. we have cautioned the demonstrators to avoid violence. we lead the way on visa sanctions four weeks ago. we have been in touch with viktor yanukovych and others to express our concerns about what is happening. maybe we should move to financial sanctions, but i don't think this is a tool we should use on a broad scale. let's choose one or two people and let the europeans choose one or two people. the idea is not to punish folks.

it is to encourage them to stop doing nasty and violent things. host: you see this economically and diplomatically, not a military? guest: it is not a military matter. even in the ukraine with the fighting, it is not a military issue. the ukrainian military has not been involved in political affair since the country became independent. during the orange revolution, the military made it clear that they would not accept a crackdown on protesters. the military so far this crisis has been studiously outside of the whole contest. one thing mr. yana kovacic this week, he sat the chief of the army. the fear is that this man may be interested in helping the government crackdown.

the head of the ukrainian security services issued an outrageous statement yesterday talking about the demonstrators as terrorist and that he was going to begin an antiterrorist operation. he does not want to be naked a loan repressing the ukrainian -- le, this is not an option -- and operation of just my service. they do not want to repress the ukrainian people. host: john herbst is our guest. he served from 2003 to 2006. what should the role of the united states be? mark, brighton, massachusetts. caller: i would like to bring up the recent conversations which were brought to light of the u.n. best -- the u.s. ambassador who was candid about what the u.s. and eu was, which was to bring the ukraine into the european union and into their

fold and away from russia. my question is, if we are doing that, what would we do if there was outside the capital of ec, -- of d.c., people through maltz of cocktails s molotov cocktails at police, do you think they would move them down with machine guns? i think you have been reading too much pat buchanan, who is not at all familiar with the situation in the ukraine. first of all, you completely mischaracterize the phone conversation between tori

newland and jeff. what they said, they talked about how they would like to see the opposition respond to the last offer from mr. yanukovych. tori newland was reported to say it would be a good thing if -- became the prime minister. if the other gentleman remained outside the government. that is all they said. if you listened to my conversation with greta, the opposition rejected the proposal to take the prime minister. of course american diplomats have the opinions about individual matters in ukraine. that does not mean we control it. you mischaracterize the demonstrations. the demonstrations were peaceful

from the start. the first violence was applied by mr. yanukovych. there have been several efforts since then to crackdown on the demonstrators. depression has been overwhelmingly a tool implied -- employed by the authorities. you haven't seen organized repression and violence on the part of the demonstrators, except in defense. the casualties suggest there are thousands of casualties among the protesters. there are not hundreds of casualties among the police. host: the usa has no role in ukraine as president obama has made us no longer a superpower. another says if it is a civil

war, i don't make we should have any role, unless we started up. another says we need to keep our nose out of it. i want to get to those sentiments. is this a civil war, and our role, but first, andrew kramer is joining us on the phone. he is in kiev. what is happening there now? guest: i am standing in the square and there has been a resumption of violence this morning. it began about 8:00 this morning when there were gunshots. there was quite a bit of gunfire. i heard gunfire coming from the police. it was a scene of mayhem.

host: does it continue now? caller: there is --guest: there is a temporary lull. i suspect they will declare a state of emergency this afternoon. the opposition leaders have a plan to hold a recession of parliament. host: what does the state of emergency mean? guest: he could bring in the army to declare martial law and try to restore order in the capital. host: the president met with the foreign ministers of european countries. what is the news coming out of that?

guest: i have not seen the news from that. i have been out on the square today. host: what were they going to talk about? guest: i think the delegates would be raising me threat of sanctions against ukraine. there have been discussions about the eu joining the u.s. in sanctioning officials deemed to be responsible for the violence. host: there are reports that there is sniper gunfire coming at cameras. bbc world news tweeted out a picture as well. have you witnessed this? guest: yes. there has been quite a bit of sniper fire on the square this morning. when i was out, there were rifle bullets whizzing by in the square.

there was shot gunfire, which is a more standard crowd control measure. a doctor has seen some loans from a shotgun -- some wounds from a shotgun shot. host: a doctor was saying there were wounds to the eye of a patient they were seeing. guest: those would likely be from the concussion grenades. outside my hotel, there were 11 bodies on the sidewalk. some of them had been hit by real ammunition. whatever caused their deaths, it was not a concussion grenade. host: what are the crowds like, compared to the previous days?

guest: the crowds are large. many of them are wearing makeshift armor and construction helmets, skating pads from in-line skates, caring baseball bats and gloves. some of them are also carrying guns. there's also a good number of people that look like they might be from kiev, bringing groceries and supplies, but the mood is tense. they have been capturing policeman and parading them through the crowd. i saw one man struck by a protester.

there has been plenty of violence, so i do not want to say this is general. we are showing a live feed from reuters. they have one of their cameras set up so people can go to their website to watch this. this area that we are looking at, is characterized as calm, compared to what you're talking about. your hotel is outside of the square? guest: it is right on the square. host: how are you able to cover this story? guest: the police had approached from two sides of the square. their intention was to cause people to leave, not so much to trap them over the last two days or so. road testers have built a

-- protesters had built a defensive barricade within about 20 yards of the main stage and then they ate knighted a large -- ignited a large bonfire of tires. that was the ring of fire that was intended to keep the crowd a control vehicles away from the stage after some of the vehicles had burned. this was kept up for about a day and a half. her testers moved from outside -- protesters move from outside their barricades and pushed the policeman back. host: are you concerned for your safety? guest: i am being careful. host: let's talk about the death toll. it has reached 35 or more. how are you getting information about how many have been killed?

guest: the information from the classes on tuesday was from the health ministry of the ukraine. i think their numbers may be off by one person. today, i do not know. i saw what i think is nine bodies on the square. i saw them bringing in wounded and dead people on stretchers. i think the final death toll is not determined. host: what are you watching for today? guest: i think it is important to see if yanukovych declares a state of emergency. he could declare this type of violence is unacceptable in the center of its capital.

whether that would have an effect is unclear. also, the opposition planned to use parliament to take back power by changing the constitution. that could be a development today. also, i am just watching the square. host: andrew kramer, with "the new york times," stay safe. what did you hear? guest: he gave a good description of the assumption of violence. i think he was shrewd to observe that mr. yanukovych consid -- considering a state of emergency, but he is not clear what that means. it is important, although probably not, but is likely they will not succeed in making reforms.

if mr. yanukovych of his allies to go with the opposition, you would have constitutional reform which would be the way to end this crisis peacefully. during the orange revolution, the two sides were at a standoff. the second round of the presidential election was falsified. the government recognizes they cannot maintain this election. they agreed to a third round of the vote. they also insisted the government -- the government insisted on constitutional reform. this is exactly the same

technique to avoid confrontation. host: this tweet that -- let's show that to our viewers. host: we want our viewers to weigh in. a video of the mayor announcing leaving the ruling party in protest over euromaidan violence. guest: we thought it might be the loss of the beginning of internal cohesion.

mr. yanukovych was able to stop that. if this became a common phenomenon, it is a possibility. host: more evidence of people shooting. fort lauderdale, florida, democratic caller. caller: i do not think the u.s. has any role in what is happening. when you look at the republicans and they keep saying there is no money for unemployment and this and that, how can they find money to go into another war. we do not need to be a part of anything else.

it will be an amount of time before you see john mccain saying let's arm these people in the next people. you give them rifles and you don't know who you are giving them to. as for the president, stay out of it. we do not want to be involved in another war. let's focus on the problems we have here and put our own money here to help our people. host: john mccain put out a press release calling for sanctions against ukrainian persons. they are drafting legislation. that could come to the floor for a vote next week. we will see how this develops. do you want to weigh in on what she had to say? guest: i have all expressed a concern that the united states would intervene in the ukraine.

i think this is a natural concern. we have been very incompetent in our deployments in iraq and afghanistan. in libya, we did not do well. this is a different situation. we should be active in ukraine. i have talked about that. i am not talking about sending american troops or billions of american dollars into the ukraine. i'm talking about acts of diplomacy. it is in our interest that the ukrainian people have a chance to live in a democracy. it is in our interest to promote democracy. we should do this. it is part of creating a world that would be better for american interests. host: until the economic problems that the people feel in ukraine are dressed with them in mind, they appear at the end of their rope. what is their economy like?

that is a smart observation. one of the main reasons for this great frustration with mr. yanukovych is the fact that ukrainian economy has been sputtering along and all the president and his allies seem to do is to make sure that they can steal ukrainian resources. the president's son, alexander has become a wealthy man because they are able to buy government assets at bargain basement prices. that is why mr. yanukovych wants to hang onto power. host: what are their resources? guest: they have serious industrial capacity, chemical industries, serious agricultural assets. they have the largest transportation system of gas pipelines in the world. there are assets that can be privatized.

host: this is the cia factbook. they put together the numbers on all the different countries. this is what they say about imports and where they get their import partners. 32% from russia. china, nine percent. this is from 2012. their export partners, russia, 25%. turkey, five percent. egypt, four percent. what about russia's ties economically and otherwise, politically, to the ukraine. guest: those ties are large. it is also true that the cultural ties are substantial. people talk about the division in the ukraine between the east on one side and the west on the other. the east is looking towards the west culturally and the west looking towards europe

culturally. ukraine needs to have a good relationship with russia. having good relationships with russia does not mean that ukraine should be forced into the eurasian economic union. it is a disastrous idea for economic development for not just the ukraine, but for russia itself. the principal businessman in the ukraine, the oligarchs, including those in the east of the country, understand that ukraine's economic interests lie with europe. russia does not like that under mr. putin. they have threatened economic boycotts. for mr. putin, establishing control over ukraine is more important than the prosperity of the russian economy come or perhaps he does not understand economics. host: what role has putin played in the violence that we have seen?

guest: this is overwhelmingly a ukrainian story. putin's role has been uniformly negative. they threatened to boycott, they have urged mr. yanukovych to crack down the demonstrators. the point man of the ukraine has justified a violent crackdown. every time yanukovych comes back from seeing putin, he is restrained. host: "wall street journal" --

"americans are only waking up to the crisis. they should care how this turns out. they should want to pull ukraine into the western orbit as a matter of human dignity and strategic interest. a europe leaning ukraine can join the company of free nation that fulfill the aspirations of its people. a ukraine tilted toward the corrupt authoritarian regimes allied with moscow will be a source of regional unrest at best. guest: there are some legitimate points in that editorial. there is some purple prose there as well. certainly the united states would prefer if ukraine reached an agreement with the eu, but our policy has been driven, not so much by ensuring the ukraine turns to the west, it is driven by support for ukraine's democratic aspirations. if yanukovych rejected the deal with eu and not cracked down on the demonstrators, american diplomacy would not be in high gear.

we are responding to the violence in the ukraine on the part of the government. there is a famous statement by john quincy adams, i think he said it when he was secretary of the state. the united states is the well was sure of everyone's freedom, but only the guarantor of its own. for people who believe that, i think all of your callers expressed that sentiment, what we are doing in the ukraine is more in the way of well wishing than intervening. our "intervention" is very small and surgical like. host: on twitter -- "stay out. if they want help, they can ask." here is another one. guest: i think that is

admirable. i think the eu would endorse that sentiment. the kremlin will not. when i served in ukraine, there were two issues that were relevant. one, whether the ukraine should join the eu, the other was whether ukraine should join nato. the russian position was in no way should ukraine join nato, but no problem if they joined the eu. since then, the position has shifted. as the prospect of a closer eu-ukraine relationship grew, they said no. russia stopped all ukrainian exports at its border as a way to say to the ukraine, you will suffer if you make a deal with the eu.

host: here's another tweet. host: he has a picture of a priest with a gas mask. skip, virginia beach, independent caller. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. good morning, mr. herbst. i have to react to your first two callers. mark, from massachusetts. he asked the same question i was thinking of -- how would this country respond to protesters, and mr. herbst gave a diplomatic answer. the lady from florida said we do not need to get involved and i agree 100% with her. how do you think this government in this country would react if other countries around the world might think they're type of

government should be installed in this country? i love this country, i do not want any change in the type of government, but how would we feel if other countries wanted to put their type of government into our country? guest: i think i gave you the answer from john quincy adams. i do not think that there is a problem in the united states being supportive of democratic freedoms. that is what drives our policy in the ukraine. i imagine you would not support a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators. that is how this began. the demonstrators only became violent, and i would not overstate the violence. it happened after weeks and weeks of repression by authorities. i can understand why you do not want united states to get

involved in a major way in the ukraine, but i do not understand why you would not want the ukrainians to enjoy the same freedoms that we enjoy. host: who is the president? yanukovych -- i met with him frequently. his is a very unusual story. he was a convicted felon as a young man who turned his life around and became a successful bureaucrat and a major leader in independent ukraine. his political fortunes prospered and he became prime minister and eventually the presidential candidate in 2004.

he lost the presidential during the orange revolution. after he lost that vote, everyone assumed his political career was over. he did not assume it. he recognized he was dealing with a new ukraine where there would be democratic elections. he campaigned in the eastern and southern part of ukraine. he restored his role as the leader of the opposition at that time. he won a free and fair presidential election in 2010. once he was in power, he wanted to make sure he would not leave power. he has instituted repressive measures ever since. his behavior has been wretched.

host: possibility of war crimes? guest: i am leery about saying this man has blood on his hands. he has a great deal of power. if there is going to be a peaceful resolution so that from this day or tomorrow that there is no more violence, you will have to make a deal with him. if you say he is a war criminal, you are saying he has no acceptable compromise. i can understand why people in the square who have seen their friends murdered or beaten and tortured would want him called before court, but i do not think that will help us get a peaceful resolution to the crisis. host: benjamin, republican caller, welcome to the conversation. caller: the u.s. should play a role. it is something that has been in our history. this guy wants power. in our country, there is no king.

there is no person that can hold power forever. we know what power does. it is like dealing with the human. mr. yanukovych is a convicted criminal. why not let people live in a democratic state? he knows he will start to lose a lot of the power, slowly and surely as the people start to get more content and happier with the way that policies are. this is like syria and libya. it will start popping up more and more. the united states need to say all of you guys that want diplomatic happiness, you have to get it without power or being afraid of a protester giving a criticism of the government. you need to say, this is what we are doing wrong, let's change

it. jfk said a country cannot know what it is doing wrong lessig is criticism from its people. guest: i agree largely with what you said. we have a long and wonderful history of support for democracy. that is what is driving our policy right now. host: this is a live feed from russia tv. this is the maidan square. what you make of the numbers? guest: it is a large crowd. we do not see how large it extends from beyond the pictures screen. host: richard, you are next. go ahead.

caller: i do support what the ambassador said as far as stepping in in terms of diplomacy and may giving advice, but as far as spending any viable resources or time or energy in the ukraine, it seems senseless, considering we still have issues at home in terms of obamacare and our national debt. we should concentrate and focus on our issues here and tackle those before we go anywhere else and deal with their problems. host: here's what the president had to say yesterday. he traveled to mexico city and met with his mexican and canadian counterparts. he was asked about the violence in ukraine. here's the president. [video clip] >> with regard to ukraine and our european partners, we will engage all sides and stress to

president yanukovych and the ukrainian government that they have the primary responsibility to prevent the kind of terrible violence that we have seen. to withdrawal riot police, to work with the opposition, to restore security and human dignity and move the country forward. this includes progress towards a multiparty technical government that can work with the international community on a support package and adopt reforms necessary for free and fair elections next year. ukrainians are a proud and resilient people who have overcome extraordinary challenges in their history. that is a pride and strength i hope they draw on now. i have urged the military to show restraint and allow civilians to pursue the dialogue necessary for progress. we have seen reports of a truce between the government and the opposition, if the truce is implemented, it could provide space for the sides to resolve their disagreements peacefully.

we will do a we can to support ukrainians as they seek a peaceful solution. and respond to the aspirations of the ukrainian people for a full and vibrant democracy. host: what did you make of what the president had to say? guest: i think it is an excellent statement. he covers all the points. he makes clear that we are looking for a compromise that would be acceptable to the government and the opposition parties. i like that he cautioned that the military to stay out of it and he talked about the willingness to offer some assistance if they are willing to make the necessary reforms.

host: current ambassador, "a joint statement by eu ambassador and myself," what is his role and what you make of his efforts? guest: he is a solid professional. he is handling himself well. the capital in which he is accredited is in crisis. we have to be careful about what we do. he is handling himself well. host: john, independent caller. caller: good afternoon. host: go ahead. caller: i find the past -- statements to be disingenuous. the history of america involves themselves and other problems, they look good going in, but the results have not been nice. if the ukrainian nation wants to solve their problems, and they have a lot of them.

the only country that has their wealth and power to help them are the russians. anyone who steps on russia will have to be careful. while we wish to ukrainians good, our founding fathers told us that there is no democracy like we have here. there is no people in the world like we have here. the people in ukraine have to start thinking. if they are doing what they are doing here in america, i would ask my government to clean the streets. once you break the rule of law, what's left? guest: i think you expressed some admirable sentiments.

but also there are some misconceptions. we have intervened in some places around the world. we're not talking about going into the ukraine. we are talking about using diplomacy to come up with a diplomatic solution. what mr. putin is proposing for the ukraine is not good for the people. he is not helping them. he is trying to draw them into an economic and political union, which is a dead-end. the ukrainian people are resisting that. that is understandable. our support for ukrainians is not unreasonable. we are supporting ukrainians who want freedom and that is admirable. host: a string of tweets. he ran into the opposition leader who thinks the government

provoked today's violence to show visiting foreign ministers a truce was impossible. havehen he says 10 por defected -- guest: that is a big deal. i don't have at my fingertips to the exact breakdown, but if 20 or 25 move from the government parties to the opposition parties, the opposition would have a majority. that would lead to the constitutional reform we were talking about. 10 is a significant number. in late november, two or three people left. 10 is a lot more interesting and significant. host: this is coming from the opposition leader, so we do not know if this is true. guest: if it is, the serious talk of sanctions is having an impact.

these parliamentarians do not want to be sanctioned. they're showing us, and especially europe, do not target us. host: bob, virginia. caller: there's a four-part series on youtube, i recommend everybody look at this history. it is by a ukrainian and it covers the 4000 years of the history of the ukraine, which is basically the meat grinder of civilization over the last 4000 years. seen it, but i will look for it, and you are right, ukraine has had a very sad history. host: president obama is saying the u.s. condemns in strongest terms the violence that is

taking place in the ukraine. that was tweeted out yesterday. we will go to mark, columbus, ohio. go ahead. caller: i would like to remind the ambassador that the united states has always had their problems too. i do not recall any country coming into the united states when we were enslaved, when we were fighting for our civil rights, the government turned against us. we were trying to get our own personal civil rights. no one came to help us. this is when the united states should get involved in any type of military action outside the united states. whenever -- let's take the ukraine. when all ukrainians in america return home to help their country, that is when we should get involved.

guest: this caller, like most of the others, expresses a serious concern about the united states intervening overseas. what we're talking about in the ukraine is not a deployment. it is diplomacy. there are no dangers of the type that existed when we put military forces on the ground in afghanistan. the caller is right. other countries do not get involved in our civil rights movements. we have a history as the world's oldest democracy to encourage democracy around the world. there's nothing wrong with that.